Willdan Group (WLDN) Competitors

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) and Willdan Group (NASDAQ:WLDN) are both business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Does the media refer more to FA or WLDN?

In the previous week, First Advantage had 2 more articles in the media than Willdan Group. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for First Advantage and 5 mentions for Willdan Group. First Advantage's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Willdan Group's score of 1.19 indicating that First Advantage is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Advantage	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Willdan Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FA or WLDN?

94.9% of First Advantage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.3% of Willdan Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of First Advantage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of Willdan Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, FA or WLDN?

First Advantage has higher revenue and earnings than Willdan Group. First Advantage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Willdan Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Advantage	$860.21M	2.81	$37.29M	-$0.69	-20.19
Willdan Group	$565.80M	1.04	$10.93M	$1.58	25.93

Which has more volatility and risk, FA or WLDN?

First Advantage has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Willdan Group has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FA or WLDN?

Willdan Group received 251 more outperform votes than First Advantage when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.98% of users gave Willdan Group an outperform vote while only 60.00% of users gave First Advantage an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Advantage	Outperform Votes 33 60.00%	Underperform Votes 22 40.00%
Willdan Group	Outperform Votes 284 66.98%	Underperform Votes 140 33.02%

Do analysts rate FA or WLDN?

First Advantage currently has a consensus price target of $66.80, suggesting a potential upside of 379.54%. Willdan Group has a consensus price target of $51.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.70%. Given First Advantage's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Advantage is more favorable than Willdan Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Advantage	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
Willdan Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50

Is FA or WLDN more profitable?

Willdan Group has a net margin of 3.97% compared to First Advantage's net margin of 0.65%. Willdan Group's return on equity of 13.84% beat First Advantage's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Advantage	0.65%	13.16%	7.33%
Willdan Group	3.97%	13.84%	6.89%

Summary

First Advantage beats Willdan Group on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.